Pediciidae Osten Sacken, 1860

This family comprises mostly medium-sized to large species, reaching its maximum with Pedicia rivosa which has a wing-length of over 25 mm. The Pediciidae can be characterised by pubescent eyes and spurred tibiae in combination with certain venational features, such as Sc2 retracted before the origin of Rs and a four-branched media. The larvae are predominantly aquatic or semiaquatic, preying on oligochaetes, mites, insect larvae and other invertebrates. However, the larvae of one genus, Ula Haliday, 1833, are mycetophagous, and those of Nasiternella Wahlgren, 1904 appear to be saproxylic. In general, adults occupy similar habitats to Limoniidae and other Tipulomorpha, but a considerable proportion of the species are found along rapidly flowing mountain streams. Many species produce swarms of predominantly male specimens.

Altogether 67 species and subspecies are known to occur in Europe (calculated from Oosterbroek 2009). 43 species are listed in the present checklist: 38 species from the Czech Republic (31 in Bohemia and 37 in Moravia) and 41 from Slovakia. Compared with the PCV2, three species have been added for the Czech Republic (nine in Bohemia and four in Moravia), and four species for Slovakia. Names that have been changed for various reasons are noted in the checklist. The Czech Republic and Slovakia are among the best-investigated countries in Europe for the Pediciidae, but further additions are still possible, of species known to occur in adjacent countries or species that are still undescribed.

The family was treated as a subfamily of the Limoniidae until Starý (1992) raised it to family rank. The treatment by Savchenko (1986) can be used for identification of the species. Subsequent papers should, however, also be consulted. The work by Podenas et al. (2006) on the Swiss Limoniidae and Pediciidae represents the most recent identification tool. The genera and subgenera can be identified using the keys by Dienske (1987) and Reusch and Oosterbroek (1997). The nomenclature adopted in this checklist is summarised in Oosterbroek (2009); subspecies category is not shown for nominotypical subspecies (Pedicia rivosa).

The work was supported by grants 206/04/1170 from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic and MSM619859212 from the Czech Ministry of Education.